Screenprints for Edwin and Goodhood’s Kyle Stewart

October screenprints for Edwin and Goodhood’s Kyle Stewart go live, as featured by Highsnobiety

It makes us happy enough to produce screenprints for Edwin, ices the cake when Kyle Stewart from Goodhood produces the B Movie inspired designs, and whacks a dirty great cherry on top when it gets featured by Highsnobiety.

We mentioned these graphic screenprints in a previous blog as an early snifter, but now it’s all live we’d like to share the film with you too – because we thought you might like it.

To recap, the screenprints are B movie based and hand drawn. For us, Kyle manages to give the designs a nice juxtaposition of humour, with a little darkness, which after all is what screen printing is all about.

And with Edwin being a touch famous for their denim, it’ll come as no surprise that Mr. Stewart’s six illustrations are featured on a screen printed black denim jacket, as well as short, heavyweight cotton tees in either black or white, with punk pins, and our screen printed classic canvas totes. Obvious really.

Edwin then asked Alex Flach of Berlin Mitte’s Civilist skate store (a bit of a streetwear institution) to test the product good and proper, on the streets where it belongs. The result is this featured film, nicely recorded in the heart of the German capital.

The collection also debuted at a special event in London, with Flashback Records’ Andi Nixon providing a Lo-fi metal, B-movie horror soundtrack and DIY punk mix, to support the evening, while Gordon’s Gin, Guinness, and October Textiles customer MEATliquor took care of all other possible requirements.

And why so happy to be covered by Highsnobiety? Well you know all this stuff, but it’s one of the main online publication covering trends and news in fashion, art, music, and culture, which all sit happily side by side in one place. There are tons of sites which get up to all this stuff, but somehow this one stays just ahead of the pack when it comes to figuring out what’s going to happen next. It’s like they’ve got a fashion crystal ball – weird.

Screenprints, Edwin, Goodhood, Kyle Stewart, Highsnobiety and October in the same sentence is not an everyday, but it’s a happy day.

October screen print T-shirts for Edwin – MEATliquor

October screen print T-shirts for Edwin, in collaboration with MEATliquor

We’re always more than happy to screen print for Edwin jeans, but when they collaborate the messy eaters’ favourite MEATliquor, it’s a win win

Let’s see what they have to say….

MESSY EATERS REJOICE!

‘We have teamed up with burger and cocktail fanatics, MEATliquor to produce the perfect apparel for gluttons and gourmands alike.

Designed specifically to be customised with your personal choice of stain, be it mustard, ketchup or Dead Hippie sauce, the collection comprises of three T-Shirts and three pin-badges, based on a selection of the iconic MEATliquor imagery created by “I Love Dust” over the years.

MEATliquor co-founders Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis have been directly involved in the project, with Mr Collins remarking, “I was wearing Buffalo sauce before it was cool” and Mr Papoutsis is known to be particularly fond of egg yolk detailing.

The limited edition collection is exclusively available in Edwin stores in London and online with customisation options on offer at your local MEATliquor restaurant’

COME TOGETHER, EAT TOGETHER.

October screen print T-shirts for SIMPLY PRETTY

October screen print T-shirts for SIMPLY PRETTY, to highlight Sexual Harassment, Wage inequality, and Women in Business.

WHY

Men and women live very different lives. The status quo isn’t good for anyone. This campaign could be about statistics. We could list male suicide rates, instances of sexual assault, the wage gap and statistics on property ownership.

Instead Simply Pretty is about change. That starts with people.

Silence is easy. Let’s help people say something.

Our clothing is high-quality and wearable. It also sparks a conversation. We are asking people to think, to talk about things and challenge them.

Change is rarely quick and it isn’t easy. We need to start somewhere.

Each t-shirt will fund a week of a girl’s education with wonderful charity The Campaign for Female Education (Camfed). By educating people, we change the future and create better leaders.

Simply Pretty. Empowering t-shirts in more ways than one

The shirts are ethically produced, 100% organic cotton and flattering. We worked with a young independent artist on these designs.

There are two styles available:

Three important topics inspired our designs:

Sexual Harassment

Wage Inequality

Women in Business

Our shirts are ethically produced in Germany and hand-printed by October Textiles  in the UK. They have a Recommended Retail Price (RRP) of £35 – nearly double the price we are selling them for.

Every shirt funds a week of a girl’s education.

£4 ($5) from every t-shirt will go directly to Camfed – The Campaign for Female Education. Since 1993, they have directly helped 1.6m girls go to school in 5 countries in Africa. Their aim is to support marginalized girls to go to school, succeed, and empower young women to step up as leaders of change. Over 90% of students supported by Camfed complete education.

We worked with Harry Wyld – a promising young artist from Bristol. He has a whole portfolio of other tremendous work that we recommend you to check out!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/more-than-simply-pretty-art-design#/

October screen print for Kickstarter fashion brand, &Sons.

Kickstarter fashion brand launch. Hopefully the good people of October understand the fashion screen print bit, and the &Sons 50’s inspired café racer story makes perfect sense, but Kickstarter, what the Devil’s trousers is that all about?

We’ve never taken part in Kickstarter – when we started, around the time King John was getting jip from a supposed hard man in green tights, there was no such thing. You just saved all your pocket money, waited a for a good tip, and then shoved a bundle on Lucky Lad to romp home in the 3.30 at Nottingham. We’re told though, and it may be true, that things have moved on.
Kickstarter involves no leather or motorbikes (actually in this case it does). It looks like you make a really nice video telling people how ace café you are, offer them some kind of incentive, like if you pledge 100 quid we’ll send you a box of clothes, and hey presto, you end up with a suitcase full of cash.

Lovely. We’ll sort that this morning, and by this time next week, we’ll be fully funded, and launching our new fashion brand like a big shiny rocket. Stand back, in case you set fire to your tweed Baker Boy cap, and soil your Selvedge denims.

&Sons, and the importance of a Kickstarter story

Can it be that easy? Well yes and no. If you follow the link below and see how much money &Sons have already raised, in a short space of time, you will see that it can be done. Hurrah! If we ask ourselves how it’s done though, perhaps there are two key requirements.

Firstly, research, and the identification of a recognized niche. Making something that people actually want. We could wave an irrelevant tattooed finger at the Hipster waffling up Brick Lane here, but &Sons are special in our view – non band wagon. They have their origins in a search for real work wear that does a real job, while staying on trend. We have to work, but we don’t have to look like a bag of spanners. They have a very targeted niche, a customer who they know will want what they make, but with the added twist of workwear relevance. It’s not Shoreditch for the sake of it.

Secondly, and our favourite story – they have story. This is key, because unlike many who begin by telling us what they’re making, &Sons quite rightly begin with telling us why they are making it. In the words of author Simon Sinek,

‘People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it’

So let us start to conclude, with the words of &Sons founder Phil James himself:

“The idea for this project came about when I found myself trying to find clothes that were functional and hardwearing for my day job but also fashionable, comfortable and ultimately something I felt proud wearing. I also wanted a certain ‘look’ but found myself shopping around from several different websites. And so… &Sons was born, catering for a discerning customer looking for a classic, timeless style.

“We loved the idea of a Kickstarter campaign to get us off the ground as the thought that people were voting with their own investment for what they wanted to see hanging in their wardrobe, really resonated with the team. We really hope fashionable folk far and wide will dig deep and back this exciting vision.”

From head to toe or rather ‘cap to boot’, the &Sons range includes a Baker boy cap in tweed and leather, a Chambray work shirt, cotton waistcoat, Selvedge denim jeans and handmade leather work boots amongst other pieces. All garments feature only the finest natural materials combined with the greatest craftsmanship.

All fingers crossed here at October, that thanks to the magic of Kickstarter and screen print, fashion brands like &Sons will have a properly funded launch.

Carhartt workwear, let’s rediscover the love

Who’d have thought we’d rediscover the love of workwear, and all thanks to Carhartt?

Usually, when we’re gone we’re gone, bags packed, dog dead, three strings on our guitar, with just one key left on our key chain, and so we didn’t think we’d get back that workwear love. But we have, with a timely reminder from a friend, about the genius of Carhartt workwear.

We’re a screen printer, embroiderer, re-labeller, and waffler on about all things fashion man. Like how to start a clothing brand that stands half a chance of not ending up on the pooh pile, with all the other 500 clothing brands that will start tomorrow. We specialise in dream management, and giving the impossible a fighting chance …. with some success.

Ending up in the fashion groove didn’t happen by accident. Well actually like all things it probably did, unless you believe in God, and predestination in which case, it was all mapped out. It happened because our industry is split very broadly into: school wear = boring; promotional wear = cheap and boring; and work wear = hard hats. The fourth option was fashion, and as we get to wear stupid outfits at trade shows and smoke obscure Japanese fags, there was no contest. Or was there – could workwear be cool?

Well it would appear so, and we were reminded of this fact by an old friend. He waltzed across the loading bay a while back, our old pal from way back when there was taste, that massive fashion head, Dean Webster. Famous for game changing brands before your time and stylist to the discreetly great. It was as always a pleasure to see him, and start work on a project for Edwin Jeans in collaboration with Kyle Stewart at Goodhood, (the street compass for all things now).

So we were chatting, smoking Japanese fags, remembering all the old brands, the old fashion lags, the ducks the dives and scrapes, when thanks to the Edwin connection, the Japanese denim story and a bunch of other random roads, it was inevitable we ended up at Carhartt workwear.

‘Why don’t you sell it?’ Dean asked. ‘Because all workwear is ball twistingly boring, and photographed on a bloke called Big Dave in a boiler suit, holding a ruler – so he looks like he’s doing something useful’

‘No way man’ said Dean, ‘Checkout Carhartt workwear, and trust me brother, you will see the light’

It was difficult to see anything in all the Japanese fag smoke, but it cleared, I looked up, and Dean was gone, probably back to Berlin to start another trend.

Unsurprisingly, it got us thinking. And unsurprisingly it got us looking. And guess what, unsurprisingly, we saw Carhartt, and we saw the light.

But have you seen the Carhartt workwear product range recently?

Workwear is not really the right word. You’d wear it anywhere. If the truth is told we decided to offer the Carhartt workwear range because we want the jeans, the jackets, the flannel shirts, the bibs, the hats, the coming soon boots, and we’ve had several orders in from passing dogs, for dog beds and the rather stylish dog collars. We may not need serious workwear in our print room, it’s not exactly the building of the United States that Carrhartt have been doing since 1889. We’re cleaning screen printing equipment, not roping wild horses, hanging off skyscrapers and building Ford Mustangs, but so what, in all that clobber walking in slow motion across the car park, we look like working class heroes too.

We’re not well known as those who re-discover the love, cross us and we’re usually gone, but when it comes to workwear and Carhartt, we’re singing country love songs all over again.

Also read: Carhartt: one name, two very different menswear brands

Why do we screenprint on American Apparel T-shirts?

There are those who are for, and those against, and so we are occasionally asked ‘Why do we screenprint on American Apparel T-shirts?

Apart from the great product and ethical provenance, the honest answer is, as always with us, an involvement with the entire story. Not always an easy story we’ll admit, perhaps more of a soap story than a fairy tale. What follows is difficult, easier to avoid than confront, and our conclusions are uncertain and open to debate.

Based in LA and founded by Dov Charney in 1989, American Apparel is a vertically integrated company that is one of the biggest T shirt and apparel manufacturers in North America, at one point being one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the US

That said, It hasn’t made any profit since 2009, filed for bankruptcy in 2015, then in 2016 exited bankruptcy after re working its finances and booting out its ex CEO and founder. And so the wild financial shenanigans begin, but this is just the tip of the American Apparel iceberg.

Whilst promoting ‘made in the USA’ goods, with great non sweatshop labour policies and paying well over minimum wages, Mr Charney was accused of sexual harassment on more than one occasion. In addition the entire organization was at times regarded by some as a non- female friendly environment

Moreover, American Apparel advertising campaigns were considered to be highly sexually charged, in a somewhat ‘girl next door’ and unsettling way (although they were occasionally applauded at least for avoiding the use of our old enemy the airbrush, and the inclusion of natural imperfections)

In furthur twists, American Apparel has used pornographic actors in some of its campaigns, including Lauren Phoenix, Charlotte Stokely, Sasha Grey and Faye Reagan. In fact the Adult entertainment trade magazine Adult Video News said that the American Apparel website is “one of the finer softcore websites going”

Some of the company’s other ads, which feature nudity or sexual themes, have been banned by various advertising authorities. American Apparel came under pressure for example in a 2014 ad for mini-skirts, which featured a model bending over so that her underwear was prominently exposed. In 2013, the company also released an ad in which the model lay on a bed with her feet up in the air without wearing any undies. There was a further ad in which a model posed in a series of photos focused on her lady parts, and in which her face was not seen. The UK Advertising Standards Authority criticized the ad for being “voyeuristic,” and “vulnerable.” Dodgy ground!

Could it get any worse? Well yes of course it could. All the above is before you get into a $10 million lawsuit with Woody Allen, over billboards in which he was dressed as a Rabbi. Why limit yourself to sexual uproar, when you can get a little religion tension in on the act?

Positives? Apart from the great labour policies and ethical production, there was pro-immigration support with Legalise LA, and pro Gay and Lesbian work with the American Apparel Legalise Gay campaign. Furthermore in 2012 there was the partnership with The Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation, a range of T shirts celebrating LGBT Pride Month, and Isis King becoming AA’s first openly transgender model. The list of charitable organizations which American Apparel have championed is also extensive….American Red Cross, New Orleans relief, Justice for Immigrants, Children’s Homeless Youth Shelter, the Centre for Human Rights and more.

American Apparel have always had pop culture connections. In 2010 Kanye West in his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for example, where we see the song ‘Gorgeous’ and its lyric ‘I need more drinks and less lights, and that American Apparel girl in just tights’ Again, an iffy reference, and the list of celebrity hook ups goes on, but perhaps this would lead us from the real question.

How do we make moral decisions around relationships which contain such positive and negative events and emotions? If there is any bad, do we avoid that connection in spite of the good? For example, do we not buy from Volkswagen or Hugo Boss because of their origins in darker times? Is it just the passage of time that makes this OK?

A great product and ethical manufacturing and employment is not sufficient in our entirely subjective view, to justify questionable practice. But nor perhaps should the greater good be sacrificed for the behaviour of a few men.

It is a difficult conclusion, but we screenprint onto American Apparel T-shirts in support of its 10,000 plus employees, the real people with real lives behind the sensational headlines, those who are so rarely mentioned, and yet those who we do not forget.

Carhartt workwear and Dickies workwear

We rarely think Carhartt workwear, or indeed Dickies workwear when these brand names pop up. But I was reminded of their workwear heritage when looking at a recent project for Edwin. My old friend the legendary stylist Dean Webster popped in recently, on a brief stop off between Berlin and Japan, as you do. We needed to chat about a jersey project for Edwin Jeans in collaboration with the Goodhood store in EC2 – better outlets, there are few. Lovely artwork, scratchy, hand drawn….don’t know about you, but I’m always up for a wander away from the digital. And when Dean said he needed the fabric to have that dry, carded, Japanese feel, we all immediately think of an old school Champion T, and realise we really should get out more often – which we probably will.

It was supposed to be a flier, but business done and in spite of us both being late for some other place, the Japanese Peace cigarettes (medium tar with peace flavor) came out on the loading bay, and a couple of old fashion lags had to start talking about workwear heritage, didn’t they? Well yes. They couldn’t help themselves.

Carhartt workwear.

There are enough kids walking about in Carhartt T-shirts, and no doubt they’ll definitely know all about their workwear history. But in case they’re just wearing a word because it makes them belong for a moment (while actually knowing eff all), let’s remember that Carhartt, founded in 1889 and now based in Dearborn Michigan, were primarily known for their workwear.

This comes from their original days in Motor City, making workwear for the railroad workers, who needed almost dynamite proof overalls when blasting through those mountains and making their way West. The amount of beans they were eating also meant the need for heavy duty threads, and rivets at those special stress points. Back then, there was probably as much chance of blowing a hole in your jeans as there was the side of a hill.

Dickies Workwear

Just like those Carhartt T-shirts, we also see a fair few Dickies T shirts wandering about our modern streets, but let us spare a thought for that early Dickies workwear, and the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company; originally an American institution of course, out of Fort Worth Texas.
But in the really early days, Mr C.N. Williamson and E.E. “Colonel” Dickie kicked it all off in the “vehicle and harness” business in Bryan, Texas. Way back in 1918, along with a few mates they set up the U.S. Overall Company – and guess what they made? Then by 1922, a certain C. Don Williamson joined with his father and cousin, buying 100% of the overall company on a one-third-each basis, and called it the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company.
‘Dickies’ workwear grew steadily, with a few blips around the Great Depression (now known as losing your mobile phone), and then of course they went on to produce millions of uniforms during World War 11.

October Textiles

October Textiles has always been a fashion based supplier. But looking at the continued influence of workwear, the lumberjack flannels, chambray shirts, raw denim, work boots and endless pompadour haircuts, is it time we merged our fashion and workwear heritage?
I think I’ll ask Mr Webster, and he’ll say good plan. So feel free to call us for your Dickies workwear….and of course your Carhartt workwear.

Lemony Snicket. The Slippery Slope

“It is easy to decide on what is wrong to wear to a party, such as deep-sea diving equipment or a pair of large pillows, but deciding what is right is much trickier.” Lemony Snicket. The Slippery Slope

And even that might be debateable Mr Lemony Snickett, where deep sea diving equipment at a fancy dress party, or two large pillows at a pyjama party might go down rather well, and be anything but a slippery slope. But when deciding what is right or wrong to wear to a party so many thoughts rush in, bounce off our hearts, ricochet off our heads, flash back from the bedroom mirror and kick us in the danglers, or wherever your personal, painful place might be.

Who else will be there? What might they wear? Should I entirely fit in, entirely stand out, or walk the impossible line in between? Do I feel brave today, brave enough for something neon? Am I afraid today and hiding, in an undergrowth of beige? Should I be smart, because everyone else will be smart? Should I be casual because everyone else will be casual? Should I be smart because everyone else will be casual and so be more visible in my smartness? That’ll show them! But they won’t care anyway will they? Am I too old for these trainers? Am I too young for this hat? Should I shave, or be grizzly? Big silver ring? Small gold ring? Tie, scarf, cravat…velvet, corduroy, flannel…Fisher, Dogger, German Bight? And so the wardrobe vomits a lifetime of fashion gluttony, and as if by the darkest  of magic, my carpet disappears.

The Rules.

That’s why they made them, to make it easy to decide what to wear, whoever they were that made the rules: the Elders of the Cloth; The Druids of the Duds; the Once and Future Kings of a Long Forgotten Style. And Bryan Ferry. They made the rules for this very moment. Hedges, quickly, hand me my dress code manual. So, no checks with stripes. Check. No chocolate with navy. Good. Chapter Three, ‘The Expanding Physics of the Horizontal Stripe’ Chapter Four, thank the Lord, ‘The slimming properties of Black’. Brogues mean a single breasted jacket, yes, but a Loafer can require something more double breasted. Now we’re getting somewhere, is the pain lifting a little, can we see through the fog of self-doubt?

No Chance.

Well of course there’s no chance, everything is wrong to wear to a party once your bottle has gone. We may as well rock up in deep sea diving equipment or a pair of large pillows; at least if we keep the helmet on, with the pillows over the top, no one will have a clue who the hell we are. But there is hope, and I was reminded of it last night by the lovely Margaret, and the gorgeous insanity of her husband’s dress code. We will call him Gerald, because that’s his real name.

I have been noticing him for some time, wafting into the bar in entirely riotous attire. In his seventies I’d say, and still breaking every rule in the book. Last night we were treated to the most chequered of shirts, with the stripiest tie. Flaming red loons sat above a cream slip on silver badged moccasin. And all was wrapped in an aggressive orange tweed over coat, from the Hebridean Island of Dunny Giyafook.

And it all worked, in a so wrong it’s entirely right and supremely original kind of way. How can that be I wondered, as the brandy finally had its way with me and I drifted off, radio on, to the reassuring murmur of the shipping forecast?

It worked, because it was him. Because he was measured, calm, and with all the self-assurance of a proper gentleman. Because forty five years later he still adored his wife, and she clearly rather liked him. While his outfit shouted, he spoke quietly.  There was balance, order, and a gentle certainty.

So what does Gerald teach us? That if we carry ourselves with care and some consideration Mr Lemony Snickett, it doesn’t matter what is right or wrong to wear to a party. Be it deep-sea diving equipment or a pair of large pillows, a little measure and decency will always avoid, the Slippery Slope.

Embroidered caps & screen printed hooded sweatshirts, for Redbet

We’d admit to being more knowledgeable on Snap and Gin Rummy than high stakes poker, but when Redbet Online Casino approached us to produce their embroidered caps and screen printed hooded sweatshirts, it was a very welcome challenge.
Redbet started their business in 2002, launching their online casino in 2004. They have subsequently established themselves as one of the top gaming websites on the European market. They offer a variety of gambling options, with poker, casino games and sports betting. Immediately apparent was the simplicity of their website, unlike many of the alternatives which have enough flashing banners to make you wonder if you need to gamble, or start dancing. As such it was only right that their embroidered caps and screen printed hooded sweatshirts, were equally simple and clean. But the level of quality they required, meant that we were able to go the extra mile.

Screen printed hooded sweatshirts.

Challenge number one, was that they wanted a high build white ink, screen printed across the zip of hooded sweatshirts. This would be highly unwise to attempt with an off the shelf garment – the ink would spread over the zip and look untidy. So a full garment manufacturing process was the way forward. The hooded sweatshirt needed to be a heavy bright red fleece, so 400 gram fabric was used. Panels were then cut prior to manufacture, meaning we could screen print the design first onto one flat panel, and then cut that down the middle to insert the zip. This means that the print fits neatly into the zip seam. Redbet specified a wide calico cord for the hooded sweatshirt, back neck labels and high definition woven hem tabs. These were all added to give the finished garment a high end retail look. It goes without saying that as usual, our hooded sweatshirt featured a straight cut body and sleeve, with wide cuff and hem seams to give a clean line and a tailored finish. (Why do we say ‘it goes without saying’, and then say it – will have a think about that one).

Embroidered caps.

Challenge number two, was that Redbet wanted red, New Era quality, flat peak snap back embroidered caps. They required a high build 3D front embroidery, woven hem tab, inner Redbet printed taping, and last but most importantly, the red of the cap, needed to match the red of the hooded sweatshirt! This meant that we needed to get the red twill of the cap right first, and then lab dip the fleece fabric of the hooded sweatshirt until we were happy that the dye colour of the two fabrics matched. Once we were happy with that, we could get to work laser cutting the foam which sits behind the embroidered cap logo, to lift it up, and give it a 3D feel. Inner tape was printed with the Redbet logo text, high definition woven labels stitched over the seams, and there we go – clean, minimal punchy graphics, onto a retail quality finished product.

It’s fairly regular, but not every day that corporate customers show this attention to detail when making a cap or hooded sweatshirt. So although we don’t profess to take any bigger gambles than running a screen print and embroidery business, we can quickly assume that should one want to gamble responsibly, that www.redbet.com is a fun, safe, and professional place to be.
Hopefully our embroidered caps and screen printed hooded sweatshirts for Redbet Online Casino, not only look at home in a high stakes gaming room, but would also stand up as high end retail pieces.

HOW TO CHOOSE A SWEATSHIRT OR A HOODED SWEATSHIRT?

HEAVYWEIGHT, SEMI FITTED, SWEATSHIRT

HEAVYWEIGHT, SEMI FITTED, POUCH POCKET HOOD

HEAVYWEIGHT SEMI FITTED, ZIP HOOD

We’ll look at these two together perhaps, because deciding how to choose a sweatshirt, or a hooded sweatshirt only has one variable – and it’s called er, a hood. Other than that the same questions apply to both garments, fit, weight, fabric, texture and construction, so maybe let’s not get any trickier than necessary.

Compromise.

When we talked about how to choose a T shirt, we introduced the idea of compromise in the face of all the weights, cuts and fabrics available, but when it comes to sweatshirts and hooded sweatshirts, we’re not going to be so open to variation. We might be a bit stubborn and unreasonable, and just recommend the best option.

Fit – semi-fitted, standard.
Fit – whether they are semi fitted or a more standard cut, this is the first area we’re not going to be flexible about. The only time we’d recommend a standard cut is for workwear, when a right old selection of sizes is required, just in case we’re kitting out the lads at the pie factory. For all other uses we’d go semi fit, mainly to avoid the baggy sided, ballooning sleeve effort, that is the poorly fitting sweatshirt or hooded sweatshirt. Get this wrong, and we’ll look like we’ve been thrown in a big fleecy bag, and then kicked around the car park for fun. They need to fit!

Weight – light weight, mid weight, heavy weight, and grams per square metre (gsm)

Sweatshirt fleece fabric weight is measured in grams per square metre, or gsm, just like a T shirt, where a lightweight sweatshirt might be 220 gsm, a mid-weight 300 gsm, a heavy weight 400 gsm. You could argue that the light weight or mid weight summer sweatshirt or hooded sweatshirt has its place; although where exactly that is in the British fridge is sometimes in doubt. They would tend to be more fitted, soft, textural pieces, to throw over a T shirt on the way back from doing a full cocktail menu at the beach bar. Generally though when it comes to a hood or sweat, we want to be in no doubt that it’s a properly expensive thing. On that basis we always say ‘the heavier the better’. Feel free to disagree, if you enjoy being wrong.

Fabric content – 100% cotton, 50/50 cotton poly, 80/20 cotton poly.

We’ll confess a leaning towards the 100% cotton lovelies, but they’re not always the easiest to find. There are plenty of 80/20’s about though, and we wouldn’t dilute the cotton any more than that for anything fashion based. The only time you might consider a 50/50 is if it’s for workwear, and a really good colour fastness is required during multiple hot washes. If boiling the sweatshirt or hooded sweatshirt up like a bag of old Brussel sprouts isn’t an issue, go 80/20. The only other fabric question is would you like it brushed, or un-brushed? Un-brushed, or loop back as it’s often known, can be preferred by the fashion types with its cleaner looking, non-fluffy insides. The sweat fleece fabrics that have had a damn good brushing however, will give an increased sense of weight. Fabric brushing is a real skill – happy to bore you to death with that one, feel free to give us a shout – 0115 9585000

Texture – peachy, carbon sueded?
What does my sweatshirt or hooded sweatshirt feel like, is it nice and peachy, and has it been carbon sueded? In fact, what the hell is carbon suedeing? Texture in all things is rather important. We want a heavy fabric for sweatshirts and hooded sweatshirts as a rule, but sometimes we want a crisp Scandy look, nice and minimal, and then again we might want something a bit heavier but vintage, soft, and with distress. These fabrics are sometimes made more peachy feely by machinery, that creates abrasion on the top side of the fabric to give it a lovely soft feel – if you like the sound of that, ask for carbon suedeing, and we’ll try and sound knowledgeable.

Construction – how is a sweatshirt or a hooded sweatshirt built?

The biggest down side to some sweat construction, in our ever so humble view, is the narrow rib at cuff and hem. This, with a curved sleeve and body cut, gives a shape that won’t be doing us any favours. There’s an awful lot of it about. Rule one is a straight cut body and sleeve, with wide ribbed cuff and hem to elongate the silhouette and give a clean, fitted line. Anything other than that will be baggy and horrid, and you’ll be looking like a bunch of students after a three legged pub crawl.

Ethics – how many pandas were saved by using bamboo fabrics?

Probably not many as we keep using their food to make garments, but as always we will be looking for carbon neutral, organic fabrics, made under the accreditation of the Fairwear Foundation, Eco Tex 100 on dye stuffs, Soil Association accredited and without any Uzbeki cotton, maybe recycled and trucked, not flown in. Ethics and panda saving…it’s just a given, so we won’t be waving any big green flags.

To zip, or not to zip?
When wondering whether to zip, or not to zip, that is the question, be it a hood or a sweat track jacket, perhaps just be guided by the graphic. If we’ve already got a load of across the chest plastered imagery, perhaps lean towards a zip with a discreet left breast icon. If we’re happy with our left breast action and want a bit more punch, a pouch pocket hood it is, with a big brand carrier print walloped across the chest. Trust in the graphic Luke, it will guide you.

What do I do next – is there really just one way?

At the risk of sounding arrogant, we feel on this one that there is just one way. We’d stick all our cash on a semi fitted, heavy weight, 80/20, optionally carbon sueded, straight cut, wide hemmed and cuffed, lovely old school garment. Just our opinion, but that’s how we see it when it’s time to choose a sweatshirt, or a hooded sweatshirt.

How to choose a polo shirt?

Deciding how to choose a polo shirt, is arguably less complicated than the decisions surrounding the endless shapes, weights and textures of a T shirt. None the less, the same caution we exercise when moving from beer to wine before finishing off with a restorative brandy, should still be applied.

Semi Fitted Jersey Polo Shirt

Semi Fitted Pique Polo Shirt

Compromise, is it fit for purpose?
We discussed, or at least I dictated, the importance of compromise when choosing a T shirt. For a polo shirt however, it’s more about they’re intended use, and so as long as we make them fit for purpose, perhaps less compromise is required. The two simplest polo shirt categories are work wear, or fashion. The former clearly needs to come in a wide variety of colours and SIZES. A work wear polo shirt must be made from fabrics which will not disintegrate in a small cabin, containing a crane driver after a large vindaloo, Fashion polo shirts however will need to be all about the fit, especially a snugness about the guns. Waffty sleeves are usually a no no. They must be available in more lux textures, and compromise is not an option,

Fit – fitted, semi- fitted, and standard polo shirts.
We used the fitted, semi-fitted and standard classifications as our T shirt criteria, and they can serve us again in our choice of polo shirt perhaps. There are some very fitted polo shirts available for fashion use. They have a firm grip around our rippling biceps, with just the right amount of tattoo peeking out from beneath the cuff. It’s a look, and again if your customer lives in the gym, stays on the weights and avoids doing anything aerobic, it could be for you (avoid a white polo shirt however, it’s a nightmare with the fake tan). A semi fit polo is perhaps the safest however, with the widest market appeal. By semi fit, think of a Ralphy and we’ll be on the same page. For workwear though, with a nice left chest embroidery and a matching half zip fleece, we have to go for a standard fit. We might have some fine lads in there at up to 5XL, and it’s not kind to try and force them into a textile drain pipe.

Weight – lightweight, mid-weight, heavy weight, and grams per square metre (gsm)
Polo shirt fabric, just like T shirt fabric weight is measured in grams per square metre, or gsm, where a lightweight polo shirt might be 165 gsm, a mid-weight 250 gsm, and a heavy weight 300 gsm. The lightweight versions again tend to be more fitted or semi fitted. The heavyweight with a few exceptions are the squarer more workwear cuts. Hardly surprising that the work wear versions, unless you’re an attendant at the local sauna, need to be heavy weight, more robust, and able to take a big blob of concrete without bursting into tears.

Fabric content – jersey or pique polo shirts.
A nice straight choice here for once, it’s jersey or pique fabric for your polo shirts (yeah ok, you can have them in pima cotton, or maybe even a modal, but generally). The jersey fabrics are the softer smoother option, like a heavy T-shirt fabric, and as such will hold the detail in a screen print better than a pique. Generally, a jersey polo shirt would lend itself better to a fashion option, and may be a touch more fitted. Unless your brand is a more old school Fred Perry vibe, in which case only a pique will do. The pique fabrics with their waffle look are more robust, and as such tend to be the obvious workwear option. So if you want really soft, go jersey, if you want fashion heritage or a strong work wear fabric, go pique.

Texture
If you were fascinated by our look at texture in the ‘How to choose a T shirt’ section, then the same rules apply when it comes to jersey fabrics in a polo shirt. They can be combed or ring spun, which will remove all the chunks of shizzle from the yarn and make them soft and smooth. We like that. When it comes to a pique, (pronounced pee-kay as you well know), there is of course a slightly more textured feel. Even this can be minimised though by a real tight knit micro pique. Not all pique fabrics are the same, so feel free to ask us about the difference.

Construction – how is a polo shirt built?
We’re going to make a personal comment here about polo shirt construction. Probably shouldn’t, but it’s never stopped us in the past. Polo shirts for us are all about the subtle detail. Many have contrast plackets, different under collar colours, drop tails, shoulder pads and revolving bow ties. Not necessary for us – as we tell our girlfriends, less is more. So a simple detail in the collar knit, just a little same coloured ridge of fabric perhaps. Or an understated vent, that says I’ve thought about it, but I’m not a total bloody show off.

Ethics – were any children or animals harmed in the making of this polo shirt?
As with our T shirts, in a perfect world we want a polo shirt to be carbon neutral, organic fabric, made under the accreditation of the Fairwear Foundation, Eco Tex 100 on dye stuffs, Soil Association accredited and without any Uzbeki cotton, maybe recycled and trucked, not flown in. These ae all things we’ll be looking for when making our polo shirt choice. We can’t totally change the world, and by the time you read this Mr Trump may be in charge of it, but we can have a good old bash.

What do I do next, my polo shirt check list?
Is it fit for purpose, is it for fashion or for work wear?
Fitted, semi fitted, or standard shape?
Do I want light weight, mid-weight, or heavy weight?
Would we prefer a jersey or pique fabric?
Am I after super soft texture, or something a little more old school?
How much construction detail do we really need?
Is it ethical, will I go to heaven?

We hate doing a tick box, it all feels a bit like a dating site – Height? Weight? Hair colour? But tick off the above when considering how to choose a polo shirt, and you shouldn’t go too far wrong.

Celebrity and T shirt printing

Well it’s a match made in heaven isn’t it, celebrity and T-shirt printing, like peaches and cream or Morecombe and Wise, put them together and you’re onto a sure fire winner, stand back and wait to get hit by a truck load of cash. Any celebrity who endorses your T shirt printing efforts, is bound to fire you into an orbit of total success, or are they?

There’s very little academic research.

Amazingly, if we agree with the market research that in the US one fifth of all adverts contain a celebrity, and that Nike’s celebrity endorsement bill each year is half a billion dollars, there’s very little academic research on the relationship between celebrity and sales, which will also include the world of T shirt printing! It’s fairly accepted amongst the larger public companies, that a celebrity endorsement can boost a stock value, but does a celebrity ambassador actually increase sales?

Roger Federer and Michael Phelps.

Anita Elberse and Jeroen Verleun have released a new study, which suggests that a celebrity can raise stocks by about a quarter of a percentage point, but that celebrity endorsement, by athletes for example, will only push up sales by an average of 4%. Not exactly massive unless you have a multi-million pound turnover. They can be refreshed by success, for example a Grand Slam for Roger Federer, or an Olympic Gold Medal for Michael Phelps, but the researchers also assert that the sales dip with each win – so maybe not a game changer (bad puns are free, as always).

Exceptions to the rule – Kate Middleton

There are exceptions to this rule, and none more so than Kate Middleton. A few pics of her wearing Marks & Spencer Shoes, and that style has sold out within hours, as have certain dresses. It’s generally accepted that she’s the reason J Brand Jean’s sales have gone fairly bonkers. Which reminds me, I haven’t called her for over a week and she owes me a tenner bless her…while I’m on, I’ll see if she’ll endorse some T shirt printing for me.

The dangers of Bieber and Beyoncé.

You might be pretty happy if either of the above wanted to endorse your brand, but there can be dangers associated with getting Bieber and Beyoncé, or any other celebrity involved, especially the biggies. It might not be related to T shirt printing, but it could get a bit sticky when you ask Justin Bieber to endorse your car brand, just before he gets nicked for drunk driving, resisting arrest and not having a valid driving licence. Or equally uncomfortable to get Beyoncé to endorse Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move fitness campaign, around the time she signs a $50 million dollar deal to promote Pepsi. That couldn’t actually happen, could it?

Celebrity and T shirt printing Evidence.

None of us would say no to a big name celebrity endorsing our T shirts, but trying to find evidence of how sales are affected is rather tricky. Our own experience, and dare we humbly say we have a reasonable amount, is that there is no clear link between a celebrity wearing a brand and being plastered all over social media, and said brand ordering a great deal more product. Celebrity and T shirt printing, perhaps it’s nice for brand building, but sadly may not be an easy fix, so we’ll keep on grafting!